Public Service
by perfectlyrose
Summary: Jury duty is not something anyone looks forward to but a chance meeting might just make it bearable, perhaps even enjoyable. (Ten/Rose AU)


So my knowledge of jury service in the UK comes from a quick google search after midnight so if there are any mistakes in representation or just in general, they are of my own doing.

Written for a friend on tumblr. As usual, I do not own any of the characters, they own me. :)

* * *

Rose Tyler was decidedly _not_ looking forward to jury service. She'd successfully avoided it for the six years she'd been eligible but they'd finally caught her at age twenty four when she was out of a job and literally had no excuse to not go in for service. So she pulled out her blue suit that had been gathering dust in the back of her closet since she'd been (unfairly) sacked from her position as a secretary at Powell Marketing and prepared herself to be bored out of her mind.

This was even worse than expected. Rose was tapping her foot and desperately wishing she could use her mobile to pass the time while a handful of people tried to spin ridiculous excuses as to why they couldn't possibly be fit to serve on a jury. She rolled her eyes and was considering the merits of counting the ceiling tiles when she heard someone plop down in the chair next despite there being plenty of empty seats.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor," the man said as soon as Rose glanced at him.

He looked at her expectantly until she answered. "Rose Tyler," she said, offering her hand.

The Doctor shook her hand vigorously. "Brilliant name that! Rose Tyler," he rolled the name over his tongue like he was trying to taste each individual letter. "So are you ready to do your duty to Queen and country and judge your peers?"

"More like ready to be bored to tears," she answered honestly.

"Come on now, you've got to think of it as an adventure! We're going to hear the intimate details of a case and how we feel about it and interpret it will impact someone's life dramatically. That has to merit a little bit of interest."

Rose blinked at the Doctor as he rattled on at a rather impressive speed. "You're probably the only person I've ever met who was excited about jury duty."

"Well, excited might not be the right word. Necessarily interested? Forcibly fascinated? That has a nice ring to it, good alliteration," he mused. "If I have to be here I might as well be enthusiastic about it."

Rose took a moment to really look at this stranger who seemed to have adopted her. He looked to be in his thirties and a riotous shock of brown hair. He was dressed in what appeared to be a rather nice, fitted suit, brown and pinstriped (which was a bit odd but it worked). A brown and blue striped tie was haphazardly knotted around his neck and the buttons on his jacket weren't buttoned correctly. Then there was his footwear. Chucks, he was wearing battered white chucks with his suit and Rose couldn't help but smile at the incongruity. She couldn't deny, at least to herself, that he was attractive and bit fit.

"Is that a smile?"

At the sound of his voice Rose's eyes shot up to meet his. "Maybe," she said, trying and failing to keep it from growing into a full-fledged grin.

He grinned back and had opened his mouth to say something else when he was interrupted by the official who had finally dealt with everyone's excuses and was ready to give instructions. The Doctor smiled apologetically and turned to face the front of the room.

The woman in charge reeled off what to expect and then produced a set of cards with everyone's name on it to determine which twelve of them would actually be serving on the jury.

Rose crossed her fingers in the hopes that she wouldn't be chosen.

It was just her luck that she was the third name called. She made her way into the adjoining room to take the oath and sat down to wait some more. Slowly the rest of the jury trickled in. Every time someone walked in she tried to tamp down the disappointment that they weren't the Doctor. It was ridiculous anyways; she'd just met the man. Knew nothing about him really. But she wanted to and so she kept watching the door.

She had just about given up hope when he waltzed in the door and immediately locked eyes with her before winking.

Rose shook her head, he was ridiculous but at least he would keep things interesting during whatever trial they were assigned.

The newly formed jury was given instructions to meet back here at 7 am the next day to begin their duties and then dismissed. Before Rose had time to do anything besides grab her purse the Doctor appeared next to her, grabbed her hand, and proceeded to pull her out of the room.

Outside the building Rose pulled them to a stop breathless from the run and from laughing. "You're ridiculous, you know that right?" She asked.

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck, "Might've been told so a few times. More like twenty, but who's counting?" He paused and studied her face for a moment, trying to gauge her mood. "How about some chips, Rose Tyler?"

"Alright, but you're paying," she said, throwing him a tongue-touched grin.

"Brilliant!" With that they were off and running again.

They spent two hours over multiple baskets of chips while they got to know each other. He told her how he worked odd jobs, fixing things for people all over the country. That's what he loved to do (well, that and travelling) but he made most of his money by selling inventions to various companies. She revealed that she was currently unemployed thanks to someone telling her bosses that she had stolen and sold company secrets when she'd been nowhere near the documents she'd allegedly stolen at any point in her life. They'd figured out she was innocent fairly quickly after firing her but never offered her her job back.

They talked about what they would do with unlimited money (travel) and about the merits of various kinds of takeaway and the fact that Rose had never actually done jury service before.

By the time she realized she needed to catch the bus home or risk being stranded across town from her flat Rose knew she was already in deep. She had a mad crush on this man, the kind she thought she'd left behind in her high school days where the strength of emotion was dizzying and disorienting and wonderful.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she planted a kiss on his cheek, perilously close to the corner of his mouth, before turning away to head towards the bus stop. She'd see him tomorrow and for days afterwards and suddenly she couldn't wait for jury duty.


End file.
